BASIC NEWS WRITING
The ABCs of news writing are Accuracy,
Brevity and Clarity.
The first and most important is accuracy -- a
story can be creative and compelling, but if it
contains errors, it is worthless.
Actually, it is worse than worthless; a false
news story undercuts the public trust necessary
for the survival of a free press. Keep in mind that
the First Amendment specifically protects the
press from government control so that the public
can receive accurate and unbiased information.
The public needs unbiased information to make
intelligent choices in the voting booth. This is
critical to the process of democracy in our country. If the public loses faith in the accuracy and
fairness of the press, loss of faith in democracy
will soon follow.
Always check numbers, spellings of names,
who said what, and the other basic facts of any
story. A reporter's job is to find out what is going
on, then write a story that's interesting and informative. Accuracy always comes first.
Second is brevity. Each word in your story
should do a job. If not, take it out. Get to the
point. Say it just once. Don't be redundant. Don't
say "8 a.m. in the morning," since 8 a.m. is
in the morning. Just say 8 a.m. Or say 8 in the
morning. Remember the inverted pyramid style
of writing. Put the most important fact in the
lead. Hook the reader's attention. Explain the
lead and then go on to the next most important
fact in the second inverted pyramid. And then the
next. Lead up to an interesting finish. Don't just
stop writing when you run out of information.
Clarity starts before you write. Clarity starts
with complete, competent reporting. You should
understand your subject so completely that your
story leaves it crystal-clear in the reader's mind.
Your story should leave no questions unanswered. Avoid jargon. Explain anything that
wouldn't be obvious to the average person. The
more information you gather, the more you have
to sift through to determine what belongs in the
lead. The more you know, the harder it is to tell
it quick and make it simple. It's only easy if you
don't know what you're talking about. No one
said good reporting is easy.
THE GATEKEEPER
Who decides what stories will be printed in
the Monitor? Who picks the stories for the 10
O'Clock News on Channel 2? Journalists make
those decisions, and when they do, they are performing their "gatekeeper" function. They decide
which stories to let through the "gate" and which
to toss into the trash.
Journalists decide which stories are important enough to run on page one, and which ones
run inside.
But the gatekeeper function also affects the
way we write our stories. The reader looks to
the journalist to make sense out of a confusing
world. It is the journalist's job to find out what's
going on, then choose from a notebook full of
scribbles only those facts necessary to give the
reader a clear, concise picture of the most important events. Obviously, this process leaves some
facts out of the story. You must be sure that your
story includes the most important information.
But for you to make that judgment, you have
to learn everything possible about your subject,
and that means you will end up knowing a lot of
less-important facts that will never make it into
a news story. A good reporter loves to dig into a
story. The rule is: "Write 10 percent of what you
know."
THE FIVE 'W's'
Every news story must cover the "Five W's:"
Who, What, When, Where, Why and sometimes
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How and So What? You don't have to cover all
these in the lead, obviously, but usually you will
address one or two in the first graph.
The rest should come soon. Make sure they
are all covered somewhere in your story.
NEWS VALUES
What is news? The cliche is, when dog bites
man, it's not news. When man bites dog, that's
news. Critics say, why is the newspaper always
full of bad news? Because bad news is unusual,
and no one wants to read about ordinary events.
"The Monitor adviser arrived on campus
this morning and found things much as he
left them the night before." Who cares? If the
adviser finds a mountain lion waiting for the
elevator in Building 5, then there's a story. With
photos.
News usually has at least one of these elements:
• Impact. Impact is determined by the number of people affected, the number of boats that
sink, the number of cars wrecked, etc. The more
people affected, the more boats sunk, the bigger
the impact of the story.
• Proximity. The closer your audience is to
the event, the greater its news value. If a train
hits a bus in Bangladesh, it may receive three
column inches behind the sports section. If a
train hits a bus on Niles Canyon Road, the Argus
will play it on page one.
• Timeliness. "New" is a big part of news. If
it happened just before deadline, it's bigger news
than if it happened last week. Even "big" stories
last only a week or so. News, like fish, is better
fresh.
• Prominence. If it happens to the mayor, it
is bigger news than if it happens to the Monitor
adviser. The public cares more about celebrities
than they do about people they don't know. If
President Clinton goes jogging, reporters take
pictures. If the Monitor adviser goes jogging,
dogs bark, but no one else notices. (This is fine
with the adviser.)
• Novelty. If an event is unusual, bizarre, the
first, the last, or once-in-a-lifetime, it is has more
news value than if it is something that happens
all the time.
• Conflict. War, politics and crime are the
most common news events of all. If everyone got
along, there wouldn't be much news.
• Relevance. How does the story affect the
reader? If there's no effect at all, maybe there's
no news.
• Usefulness. How can I use this information? Home, business and leisure news sections
have sprouted in newspapers in an attempt to
give readers news they can really use.
• Human interest. A story may be weak on
the other news values, but be interesting anyway.
It can be as simple as an interview with a fascinating person who does unusual things. If people
are talking about it, it's news, even if it doesn't
meet the criteria of our other news values.
OBJECTIVITY/FAIRNESS
The reporter's job is to find out the truth and
tell it, regardless of who might be made uncomfortable. The reporter's responsibility, as implied
by the First Amendment, is to serve only the
reader.
The public needs unbiased information in
order for democracy to succeed. That means that
your stories must be unbiased. Most reporters
believe pure objectivity is impossible. When you
select one word over another, your judgments
enter the story.
But fairness is possible, and fairness should
be every reporter's goal. Fairness requires the
reporter to recognize his or her own biases in the
story, and then consciously include all relevant
points of view -- even ones that the reporter
doesn't like, personally.
Always look for the "other side" in any story.
If someone or some institution is accused of
something by a source in your story, you have an
absolute obligation to contact the accused party
and give them the opportunity to respond. This
should be done in the first story, not in some later
"response" story.
Use neutral language. Avoid exclamation
points. Don't say "our college" when referring to
Ohlone. Say Ohlone. Our tone should be one of
the disinterested, but honest observer.
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A reporter's credibility is the only guarantee
the reader has of the story's accuracy. There are
no policemen in the newsroom forcing reporters
to be accurate. The First Amendment wouldn't
allow that. If we write inaccurate or biased stories, the readers will stop trusting us. And if that
happens, we all might as well go into some other
field.
THE LEAD
The lead is usually the toughest part of writing a story. The lead is the first word, sentence or
paragraph of the story. Sometimes it can be two
or three paragraphs.
Whatever its length, the lead has several
important jobs to do. First, it must interest the
reader in the rest of the story. Imagine the reader
as impatient, with lots of other things he or she
could be doing instead of reading your story.
Imagine the reader saying, "Get to the POINT!
Don't waste my time! Tell me the STORY!"
If your reader were stranded on a desert
island with nothing to read but your story, you
could probably get away with a vague, rambling lead. But today's reader has a BART train
to catch, the kids are fighting again and the TV
never stops blaring. Your story has tough competition.
Surveys have shown that most people say
they get their news from TV, but many then turn
to newspapers for the details behind the headlines.
Your job is to write a short, punchy, informative lead to attract readers who have grown
accustomed to TV's "sound bite" journalism. But
then you must supply the details, the insights, the
context that TV doesn't have time for.
What are the rules for a good lead?
• Keep it short. News writing is always tight,
but the lead calls for special care. Condense
your story into one sentence, then one phrase,
then one word. Make sure that word is near the
beginning of the lead. As a general rule, no lead
sentence should be longer than 10 words.
• Get to the point. What is the story about?
Tell the reader in the lead. Don't say, "The city
council met last night." Tell the reader what the
city council did. "Business taxes were raised
a whopping 30 percent on a 6-1 vote of the
city council last night." What's the story about?
Taxes. So get taxes in the lead.
• Focus on the action. Use the "active voice."
Instead of saying something happened, say who
did what to who. Use the action word. If nobody
did anything, it may not be a news story.
• Hook the reader. Put the most important,
the most interesting, the most exciting thing in
the lead. A novel may take 100 pages to lead up
to the climax of the story; a news story puts the
climax first and then explains what led up to it.
These rules are sometimes thrown out for
feature leads, or "anecdotal leads" that start with
a little story that sets the scene for the point you
are trying to make. But the lean, punchy news
lead will work best on most stories.
THE NUT GRAPH
Every story needs a "nut graph" that answers
the question: Why am I writing this, and why do
I think the reader should read it? The best way
to make sure your story has a point is to state
it, simply, somewhere near the top of the story.
It doesn't have to say, "The point of this story
is..." But if the story is about a budget shortfall,
a good nut graph might quote a district official
on whether the shortfall would force an increase
in tuition.
How does the story affect the reader? That's
what should be in the nut graph. If it doesn't
affect the reader, maybe it shouldn't be a news
story.
QUOTES
Quotes bring a story to life. Let your sources
tell the story. The reporter's voice in the story
should outline the main points and set the stage
for the quotes. Quotes let your sources "talk"
to the reader, giving a personal impact that you
can't get any other way in print.
But quotes should be special. Don't use
quotes for information that can be more clearly
explained in your own words.
Only direct quotes are contained inside of
quotation marks. Information inside quotation
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marks must be the source's exact words. But
another step is needed to achieve accuracy: The
words inside the quotation marks must also convey the intent of the speaker. To use the speaker's
exact words to say something he or she did not
mean is to take the quote out of context. It is a
serious complaint often made by sources. At the
end of the interview, always check quotes that
you intend to use, and if you are unsure what the
speaker meant, ask.
The proper form for using a direct quote is:
"I won't run for president," Dan Quayle
said Thursday. "But I may walk a little."
Notice that punctuation is inside the quote
marks. The quote is attributed after the first sentence.
Try to minimize the use of partial quotes:
When asked about his presidential plans,
Quayle said he "won't run."
The first example, using the full quote, is
both more interesting and more accurate. The
partial quote leaves a false impression.
Indirect quotes don't have to use the speaker's exact words, but they must convey what the
speaker meant. For example:
Brett Favre Thursday denied reports that
he would retire from football at the end of the
season, but he said he is feeling his age.
Indirect quotes can be used to introduce direct quotes. For instance, the next sentence in the
Favre story could be:
"I feel every tackle of my career when I
wake up in the morning," he said.
Make sure that the reader knows who is
talking. If you've quoted one person for several
paragraphs, and then plan to quote someone else,
use a graph of transition between the two quotes.
For instance:
Meanwhile, another city councilman had
opposite views.
"I think the planned development stinks,"
said Councilman Joe Smith.
If you end one quote and start another without tipping off the reader, confusion will result.
Remember, you may accurately report what
a person said, but that person may be wrong.
Verify any questionable statement by calling
other sources. It's not enough to say later, "But
that's what he said."
Keep in mind that your goal is to inform your
readers. Never rely on only one source. If you
find that one of your sources doesn't have the
information you need, switch sources.
TRANSITIONS
Each paragraph in your story should flow
naturally from the one before it. If you have
gathered enough information, and if your lead
is strong enough, you may find that your story
seems to "write itself," flowing naturally from
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beginning to end.
But other stories seem "choppy," with the
narrative taking jags and loops that could lose or
confuse the reader.
Transitions smooth out those jags and make
the story easier to read. Here are some guidelines:
• Make sure your story elements are presented in a logical order. The most common order is
the chronological order. This happened, then this
happened, then this happened. For the sake of
variety, you want to use the word "then" no more
than once.
• Use introductions as transitions between
speakers. For example:
Ed Smith, professor of biology at Ohlone,
disagrees with the idea that frozen yogurt
causes split ends.
"That's the craziest idea I've ever heard,"
he said.
• Set the scene for a new area of discussion.
Don't just start in a new direction without notifying the reader. For example:
Meanwhile, a group of Ohlone instructors have been developing another theory, one
based on experiments with bananas.
"We think we're on to something," said
Professor Harold Foote.
ENDINGS
Although the news writing style tries to put
the most important information in the beginning,
in order to draw in readers, it is also important to
save something for a good ending.
A good ending gives a "rounded out" feeling
to a story, especially if the end makes reference
to information in the lead. For instance, in a
story by a Monitor staff member about a young
man trying to quit gang crime and turn his life
around, the ending was:
Valle gave a convincing "yes" when asked
if he is going to graduate from college.
This means that he will have to see his
mother cry again, although this time he will
see her from a stage while he is wearing a cap
and gown, holding a diploma in his hand.
The lead had talked about how his mother
cried when he received a scholarship to attend
college, shortly after he had been released from
jail. The ending made a smooth reference to the
lead, tying the story together.
OTHER STUFF
Avoid one-source stories. Talk to as many
people as possible in the time you have for
reporting. Make sure you leave enough time
for the writing portion of the story. How do
you know when you've done "enough" reporting, talked to enough sources, read enough
reports? Experience will teach you the answer,
and it will be a lot more than you thought at the
beginning.
The news reporter's job has three parts:
Reporting, writing and meeting deadlines. All
three are important, but news reporting couldn't
exist without deadlines. The deadline is your
discipline. Learn to meet deadlines, learn how
to gather information, and the writing style will
come eventually.
There is a broad, clear distinction between
news writing and advertising. Use your normal
objectivity and fairness when writing about advertisers, even if they push you for a "positive"
story, and threaten to pull their advertising if
they don't get it. Our focus is on the reader. Our
job is to write truthful, fair stories, and sensible
advertisers will respect that.
The same applies to our college administration. We must always give all sides of a story,
and we must ask for reaction from all interested
parties, but our job is to report the news objectively, regardless of who is involved.
Make sense out of numbers. A number is
meaningless without a comparison. If enrollment
grew 5 percent this fall, how does that compare
to last fall? How does it compare to the average
fall semester?
Story-telling is part of being human. We
try to understand experience by turning it into a
story. We use the story to remember the experience, and to share the experience with others. We
learn through stories. News is a special type of
story, one that presents facts without the storyteller’s judgment.
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HOW TO WRITE A NEWS LEAD
1. Condense story into one or two words. Put
those words as close to the beginning of the first
sentence as possible without destroying the flow
of the lead sentence.
2. Keep leads short — 20 to 30 words for the
first sentence. Or fewer.
3. The news lead should tell the reader what
the story is about and be interesting enough to
draw the reader into the rest of the story. Remember that the readers won’t know what the
story is about until you tell them.
4. Find the action in the story. Put the action
in the lead.
5. Always double-check names and numbers.
Check spelling, style and grammar. Put everything in order.
6. Attribute opinions. Stick with the facts.
7. Details, description. Report first, then
write. Learn all, tell 10 percent.
8. Decide which of the news values best
applies to the lead of the story. Write a lead that
emphasizes that news value.
9. Write in the active voice.
10.
Don’t lead with a name, time or place unless
that is the most interesting/important thing in the
story.
WHAT NOT TO DO IN LEADS
1. Don't make the lead too complicated.
Don't load it down with too many names, figures
or details. Keep the lead sentence short -- never
more than 35 words.
2. Don't begin with the time, day or date, or
place. Better to focus on the action, the who or
what.
3. Don't begin with an empty, say-nothing
expression or a generality that fails to distinguish
this news from other news: There were... In a
report released today... According to...
4. Don't begin with a question if the question is answered in the story. Question leads are
cliché leads.
5. Don't begin with a direct quote if it is a
full sentence. Don't start with a quote unless it is
an exceptional quote.
6. Don't use a form of the verb to be in the
lead, if you can avoid it. Use an action verb.
7. Don't overstate the news in the lead,
making it more dramatic than it really is. Watch
"disaster" words.
ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING
1. Precision. Use the right word. Say exactly what you mean. Be specific. Avoid sexism
in your writing. Use generic terms: firefighters
instead of firemen, letter carriers instead of mailmen.
2. Clarity. Use simple sentences. Noun, verb.
Think clearly, then write. Watch grammar and
punctuation.
3. Pacing. Movement of sentences create a
tone, mood for the story. Long sentences convey
relaxed, slow mood. Short declarative sentences
convey action, tension, movement. Use variety
of sentence lengths. Use shorter sentences when
writing about the more active, tense part of the
story.
4. Transitions. Progress logically from point
to point. Put everything in order.
5. Sensory appeal. Appeal to one or more
of our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste
and touch. What does it sound like? Was the
room too hot? Could you smell the cooking
outside on the walkway? Did the person speak
slowly and carefully, or rapidly, with confidence?
6. Using analogies. Describe it as being
“like” or “as” something that is familiar to readers.
TEN-POINT CHECKOFF LIST
1. Accuracy
2. Brevity
3. Clarity
4. Be specific
5. Get to the point
6. Put things in order
7. Get quotes right
8. Write smooth/active voice
9. Grammar/spelling/AP style
10. Five Ws/answer all the questions
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STORY ORGANIZATION
What do I want to say? Where do I put it?
1. The lead.
2. Material that explains and amplifies the
lead.
3. Necessary background material
4. Secondary or less important material.
5. Descending pyramids. Narrative.
6. Transitions
7. Quotes
8. Ending.
Form versus content. Form becomes part of
content. Without form, content can be lost.
Know what you want to say. Then say it.
Don’t begin by saying something else which you
think will lead up to what you want to say. (The
city council met last night)
Never start writing without a plan in mind.
Even long, complicated stories can be stated in a
sentence or two.
AVOID LOGICAL FALLACIES
Hasty generalization — a conclusion based
on insufficient or unrepresentative evidence.
Deaths from drug overdoses in Fremont have
doubled in the past three years. Therefore, more
Americans than ever are dying from drug abuse.
Many hasty generalizations contain words
like all, every, always and never, when qualifiers
such as most, many, usually and seldom would
be more accurate. Either have enough data to
verify your statements or use qualifiers.
Non Sequitur (Latin for “does not follow”)
— a conclusion that does not follow logically
from preceding statements or that is based on
irrelevant data.
Mary loves food; therefore she will be an
excellent chef.
Mary’s love of food is no guarantee she will
be able to cook.
False Analogy — falsely assumes that
because two things are alike in one respect, they
must be alike in others.
If we can put a man on the moon, we should
be able to find a cure for the common cold.
Both are scientific challenges, but quite dif-
ferent.
Either... Or Fallacy — the suggestion that
only two alternatives exist when if fact there are
more.
Either the 49ers find a new running back, or
they will never make it to the Super Bowl..
Actually, the team could make it to the Super
Bowl without a new running back.
Faulty Cause-And-Effect Reasoning — assuming that because one event follows another,
the first is the cause of the second. Like a non
sequitur, it is a leap to an unjustified conclusion.
Since Gov. Smith took office, unemployment
in the state has decreased by 7 percent. Gov.
Smith should be applauded for reducing unemployment.
We must show Gov. Smith’s policies caused
the decrease.
Circular Reasoning — instead of supporting
the conclusion with evidence, the writer simply
restates the conclusion in different language.
Faculty and administrators should not be
permitted to come to student council meetings
because student council meetings should be for
students only.
The writer has not explained the position, but
has merely repeated the point.
ACTIVE VOICE, PASSIVE VOICE
Voice is that inflection of a verb that shows
whether its subject is the doer of the action indicated or is acted upon.
If the subject performs the action, the verb is
in the active voice. If the subject is acted upon,
the verb is in the passive voice.
Active voice is dynamic. Passive voice is
static. Active voice is vigorous and emphasizes
the actor. Passive voice is evasive about naming
the actor.
News writing should almost always be in the
active voice because news is about action and
actors.
To test for the active voice, find the subject
and verb in the sentence. Put the subject before
the verb so that the subject takes action: Jill hit
the ball, not: The ball was hit by Jill.
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